To Retrieve Music
by RedVoid
Summary: Information about the Sonata of Darkness' whereabouts prompted Senritsu to go on a journey to Cihan to pay a visit to a cruel General who may be in possession of one of the solos. Feitan has unpleasant memories about said General, but finds himself with no choice but go to Cihan - his hated home. (sequel of To Steal Music) (cover image by Bai-Feng333) (rated M for gore)
1. General x Hei x Àn

**Everyone, hope you had a Merry Christmas, a wonderful New Year and that 2015 turns out to be an amazing year for all of you! To begin this year's updates... here it is! The first chapter of To Retrieve Music! *.***

**I wanted to wait until I had more chapters ready to start posting this, but I figured I made you all wait enought already**. **By the way, I truly apologize for taking so long to post this, but traveling and Netfllix kind of sucked out all of my free time lately, strongly subtracting from my writing time. Sorry...T.T**

**Now, thank you so, so, SO much for all of your reviews for the last chapter of To Steal Music! pitou77, DustyTypewriter, Haru 508, AlisterSeiyu, doudouchinois, Mika, Sol, Bai-Feng333, Sailor Pandabear, BK-201, AtM0sFears, OoO, Juridal and Mayu, I can't even begin to describe how happy and accomplished your reviews made me few. Really, reading how much you enjoyed To Steal Music was one of the most amazing things ever! (glomps everyone) I LOVE YOU ALL! **

**Also, I was very surprised at reading how many of you mentioned Feitan's past molding who he is in your reviews because, for months, I've been planning to have this fic here exploring Feitan's past - or, you know, my version of how it might've been. ;D ****As many of you mentioned, Feitan must've lived somewhere before Meteor City since he speaks a different language, which, I believe, is HxH's equivalent to Chinese. He must've lived in HxH's "China" until he was 8-10 years old (age in which children's facility in picking up a new language ends).**

**Some stuff about this fic:**

**- I'll be grounding HxH's world in the real one (as was done with York Shin - aka: New York City), using anagrams to talk about places with will be more or less equivalents.**

**- I'll also use some historical information in this. However, many things in this will come solely from my imagination. The OCs I'll use here and their actions are in no way, form or shape references to actual people.**

**- I'll keep giving you music suggestions every chapter.**

**- I think I may have to up this fic's rating eventually for some graphic descriptions of torture/mutilations. It wasn't originally in my plans to write anything too gruesome, but I've come across some really shocking information on the internet that I really want to put here; not as a crazy fetish, but as my way of informing you about some of our actual problems here on the real world. If you feel too uncomfortable about that, please let me know so I can organize said chapters in a way that you'll be able to skip the graphic descriptions. Also, I'll put warnings in the chapters I deem too graphic for a T-rating.**

** Warnings for the fic: bad language, description of torture and OOCness.**

**Disclaimer (valid for all chapters): I don't own Hunter x Hunter or its characters. Only the plot and OCs belong to me.**

**Music suggestion: Rebirth - Angra**

* * *

><p>Saying goodbye to Kurapika was one of the hardest things Senritsu ever had to do. In their months together, working as Neon Nostrade's bodyguards, she had grown to care immensely for the boy; he was and always would be one of her most precious friends.<p>

But it had to be done.

Now that Neon had lost her Nen ability, the Nostrade family was losing its power and wealth, so the chances of the Music Hunter crossing a piece of the Sonata of Darkness while working for them was slim at best. Senritsu honestly felt bad for leaving Kurapika during such times, but she had to. Destroying the four solos of the Sonata of Darkness was her objective in life, her responsibility to the world; she couldn't let her emotions chain her in just one spot.

She had to leave him.

* * *

><p>"<em>It's sad to see you leave, Senritsu, but I understand why you have to. I really hope you will find the remaining solos of the Sonata of Darkness." <em>

"_Thank you, Kurapika. And I'm… I'm really sorry." –_for abandoning you and, most of all, for befriending one of your worst enemies. _"I really hope you'll find it in you to forgive me."_

"_There is nothing to forgive, Senritsu. All I can do is wish you the best; you deserve it."_

* * *

><p><em>Two weeks later.<em>

Thanks to Hanzou, the Information Hunter Kurapika had indicated her, Senritsu managed to get her hands on a clue about the whereabouts of the harp solo of the Sonata of Darkness. It seemed that it was in the possession of an old and dignitary General in a large country called Cihan. According to Hanzou, said General was called Hei Àn and was living in a large, Estate-supported country house, away from any kind of stress, due to health problems. The man was infamous for his cold-blood and the place he inhabited was infamous for making people magically disappear.

Senritsu didn't think twice before using the privileges of her Hunter's License and getting a passage on the first airship to Cihan. The trip would take her four days, so she booked herself a private cabin.

As soon as she entered said airship cabin, her cell phone ringed. It was an unkown number, but she had a pretty good idea of who was calling her.

"_Where?"_

Senritsu smiled in amusement. Feitan, always so subtle.

"Hello, Feitan. I'm glad to know you're doing well."

"_Where?"_

"Right now, I'm in an airship, going to Cihan-"

"_No."_

The Music Hunter's eyes widened at the definitive negative; the thief's voice, despite commanding, had an almost desperate edge to it. Probably, it was just the phone.

"What are you talking about? Why shouldn't I go to Cihan?"

"_No matter why. Just no. Get out of airship and come York Shin. We go find Sonata of Darkness then."_

"I've already found it. Apparently, the harp solo of the sonata is in Cihan-"

"_No."_

"Feitan…"

"_No."_

"I'm going there, regardless of you wanting it or not." Senritsu spoke at last in an exasperated voice. "I didn't let Kurapika hold me down from pursuing the remaining solos and I won't let you do it either. If you don't wish to come, it's alright."

The thief's response was the dry sound of the line going dead. Feitan had actually hung up on her.

Senritsu couldn't help but sigh at the man's childish behaviour; she wished he had at least explained why he was so determined not to allow her to set foot in that country. Something had obviously happened there and she really wanted to know what it was. She needed as much information about the place as she could get.

But, most of all, she was awfully worried about Feitan. What could have _him_ so dead-set in avoiding a whole country like that?

* * *

><p>That little bi- idiot! How <em>dare<em> she disregard him like that?

Eyes blazing in anger, Feitan whipped his head to Shalnark's direction. The blonde was sitting on the stone ground of their York Shin HQ, typing furiously on his laptop to produce something the smaller thief had asked for.

"Shal, your phone virus no ready yet?"

"Have patience, Feitan." Shalnark answered good-naturedly. "The Sistine Chapel wasn't painted in just one day, you know?"

"I no even know what Sistine Chapel is."

"It's a famous Chapel in Civatan. Its ceiling is completely painted with frescoes that portray, mainly, scenes of the Book of Genesis from the Christian Religion. It's a master piece of the Renaissance period." The blonde explained, never stopping his typing. "Now, give me some more moments. I just have to finish putting the final commands in C++ language and I'll be done with the virus."

Feitan rolled his eyes. Shal meant well, trying to explain what the Sis-something chapel was and trying to situate him regarding the development of the virus he had asked for, but the blonde really had to learn how to use words and expressions that he would understand, instead of 'frescoes' and 'Book of Genesis' and 'C++ language'. _Senritsu would no have problem explain it to me._

The small thief's glare darkened at his thoughts and he was on the brink of throwing his cell phone on the ground in frustrated anger when Shalnark's excited voice demanded his attention.

"It's done, Feitan! Just give me your phone so I can put the virus' archive in it."

Feitan handed the man his phone immediately.

"Once it's here, all you'll have to do is insert it in a message and send it to your little bodyguard." The technician explained. "Once she opens the message, the virus will infect her phone and start transmitting data to your own. Her location, her contacts, the messages she receives and sends, the websites she visits and even the pictures she takes will all be duplicated and sent to your phone." With that, the blonde handed the brunette his phone back.

Feitan didn't waste a second before sending Senritsu a message with the virus in it. _Get back York Shin now._

Ten minutes later, he received a reply - _**I'm sorry, Feitan, but I really can't** -_ and a new icon appeared in his phone's screen. He clicked on it and it opened a window full of folder archives:

General Settings.

Contacts.

Messages.

Music.

Camera.

Internet.

Applications.

Shalnark couldn't help but grin at the satisfied gleam in Feitan's eyes. At the same time, he couldn't help but take a step back from the black-haired thief that was now emanating an almost suffocating murderous Aura.

"Well, good luck, Feitan! I have to… fix Machi's laptop! She's been asking me to get to it for weeks now! I'll see you on our next job! Goodbye!"

Before Feitan had the chance to tell Shalnark that not only Machi didn't own a laptop, but she was also mid-way around the world, sewing some big-shot fighter's foot in the Celestial Tower, the blonde was already gone. Actually, all of the Spiders but him and Shalnark had left York Shin already, moving on to take care of their own business until Danchou returned to them. Shalnark was probably going to do the same.

With a shrug of his shoulders, the torturer turned around to leave the run-down building that served as their HQ in York Shin behind and make his way to the airport. That town had nothing to offer him anymore; it was time for him to follow the rest of the Spiders' example and move on from the city.

* * *

><p>It took four days for Senritsu to arrive at Cihan's capitol, Jingbei.<p>

The city was warm and sunny and, most of all, buzzing with people. It took Senritsu the better part of an hour to get directions to the small inn in which she had reserved a room, and another seven to go there from the airport.

The inn room was a simple but clean place, with one single bed, a mini-fridge, a small television and a narrow but well-functioning bathroom. Obviously, it weren't the hotel's facilities that made her choose it, but its location. According to the map Hanzou had provided her with, it was but 15 kilometres away from the infamous General's country house. All she needed now was to find an excuse to go visit the house; tourism, she believed, was not nearly a good enough reason to justify her presence there.

With that in mind, she went to the inn's front room so she could talk to the owner, to see if she could get something out of the woman about Hei Àn's house. The talk was long and complicated, for, despite spending almost all of her time in the airship hearing audio CDs to learn the basics of Cihan's language, Senritsu still was having difficulties with it. It was a very complicated language, based mainly in vowel sounds, and she couldn't help but be grateful for her sensitive hearing; without it, she'd never be able to pick the very slight phonetic nuances that distinguished its words.

The talk was also pretty much useless; the receptionist had nothing to tell her about Hei Àn besides that he was "a great General, who fought bravely to defend the Nation and make sure that all could live a prosperous and peaceful life".

That didn't help Senritsu at all, so she went back to her room and did the only thing she could think that would surely give her more intel about her target.

_From: Senritsu_

_To: Hanzou_

_Hello, Hanzou._

_I'll need you to find out as much as you can about General Hei Àn for me. Anything is good; the details of his career and personal life, info about his family and circle of friends, his hobbies and obligations… Anything._

_Thank you,_

_Senritsu_

As expected from an Information Hunter, Hanzou replied seconds later.

_**From: Hanzou**_

_**To: Senritsu**_

_**Hi there, Senritsu. I take it you arrived well in Cihan?**_

_**I'm still in the country, doing some side-research, so I think I'll be able to have something for you by tomorrow afternoon. Same price as last time.**_

_**Where are you staying? We can schedule a dinner on your hotel's restaurant for us to make our exchange. ;)**_

_From: Senritsu_

_To: Hanzou_

_Dinner tomorrow sounds good for me. I'm staying at that inn you talked about in your last report, about 500km from Jingbei. Can you be here tomorrow at eight?_

_**From: Hanzou**_

_**To: Senritsu**_

_**Sure. See you there. :)**_

* * *

><p><em>York Shin airport; waiting room.<em>

Feitan had to resist the urge to throw his phone at the wall as he read the exchange of messages between Senritsu and that _Hanzou_. There were three reasons for the torturer's anger. One: Senritsu was completely going against his orders. Two: the tone of the conversation was too friendly for his tastes – _what idiot put smiley face in message? _And three: _Hei Àn_.

The Spider had had the displeasure of meeting the infamous General once, when he was still young. To say it lightly, they didn't part on good terms.

_This time I kill him. First I make him watch I torture his pig friends. I torture him until he beg death. Then I kill him._

Not good terms at all.

"**Ladies and Gentlemen booked for the flight HW-13361, destined to Cihan, please report to Gate 37 to boarding. This is the last call to board the airship."**

With an annoyed grunt, Feitan stood up from his place on the waiting room and walked to his gate. There was no delaying it anymore; he was going back to Cihan.

He was going home.

* * *

><p>At 20:00 sharp, Hanzou made his way through the doors of the small inn. The dinning room was nice and clean, albeit a little small, and, thanks to the small number of people present, the Information Hunter spotted his client easily. Her peculiar appearance helped some as well.<p>

"Senritsu?" Hanzou called with a polite smile on his face as he approached her table. "It's nice to finally meet you face to face. I'm Hanzou."

He offered her his hand, which she shook promptly in greeting.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Hanzou. Kurapika spoke highly about you; said you're a man I can trust."

Hanzou's smile grew warmer. Her words were not purposeless flattering nor were they an attempt of getting in the Hunter's good graces to gain some sort of benefit from him; they were nothing but the truth, spoken with the sole purpose of making him feel good about himself.

"I can already say that we're going to be good friends."

The small woman smiled softly to him and nodded her head. "I think so too."

* * *

><p>Senritsu returned to her room that night with a smile on her face, a belly full of good food and a thick folder full of useful data in her hands. Hanzou was very good at his job it seemed. <em>And a great dinner company.<em>

Still, the Music Hunter wasted no time dwelling about her dinner before sitting on the head of her bed, supporting her back on the headboard as she opened the folder to analyse the information it contained. She noted with satisfaction that all she had asked for and more was contained in those pages. It would be a night full of heavy reading.

But, for the Sonata of Darkness, she didn't mind it.

* * *

><p><em>Three days later. General Hei Àn's countryside house.<em>

"Miss Ongaku. General Hei Àn will receive you now."

From her place, kneeling on a large red cushion of the richly decorated guests' room, Senritsu raised her eyes to the soldier who had spoken to her. The man was tall, missing an arm, well-built, head shaved bald and, definitely, a Nen-user. Smiling innocently up at him, Senritsu stood and followed him as he led her through the wide and well-illuminated corridors of Hei Àn's country house, which, in all truth, was more like a castle.

The soldier led Senritsu through a maze of corridors before they finally arrived at Genral Hei Àn's study.

Unlike the guests' room, Hei Àn's study was nothing if not austere and pragmatic. Nothing there was without purpose; there were no paintings, no pictures, no decorative statues, no expensive rugs, not even paperweights. Everything there seemed to be of use: all of the bookshelves glued to the walls seemed to have been gone through in the last days, the writing table at the corner had its lamp on, and the two guests' armchairs sitting on the centre of the room were completely dust-free. And, of course, there was the late-generation laptop being used at that very moment, laying on top of a large desk, in front of which sat none other than the General himself.

General Hei Àn was a man well in his fifth decade of life, but his physique was nothing if not perfectly healthy, despite his alleged health problems (Hanzou had found no confirmation of the General's need of avoiding stress whatsoever). The man was of a medium height and his skin was still tight over his well-toned muscles. His face was hidden behind his laptop's monitor, but Senritsu could make out a square jaw and a head full of greying black hair.

"Miss Ongaku." Hei Àn said, not moving his eyes from his computer screen. "Please, do take a seat."

Senritsu quickly sat down on one of the armchairs, scared. Not because of the two Nen-users standing behind her, at each side of the door, not because of Hei Àn's imposing posture and not because of his emotionless voice. What scared – no, what _terrified_ her was his heartbeat. It was calm, cold, unfeeling, calculative and, most of all, ready to kill. So much like Feitan's own heartbeat, but at the same time, so different. Senritsu had grown used to the torturer's almost physiological need to kill - a sadistic streak he simply couldn't deny - however, the General's readiness to take another's life was innerving her greatly. He was much too calm and collected and _indifferent_ for someone ready to kill.

"I understand you came here as a Music Hunter, requesting to examine one of the antique instruments of my collection." Hei Àn spoke, typing something on his computer.

"Yes, sir." Senritsu responded softly. "It's my knowledge that you possess a dizi from the time of the Western Han Dynasty. One that no one, besides the archaeologist who discovered it and yourself, was able to examine."

Still with his eyes on his computer's screen, the General responded with a bored "I do".

"I've been traveling the world, conducting a research about wind instruments and their origins and your dizi is one of the few of that time. The other three I found in museums were in… less than adequate conditions."

"And you're hoping that mine will be in good enough conditions for you to examine."

"Yes, sir."

"And why should I allow you to touch my property, Miss?"

"I know you are a music enthusiast yourself, General Hei Àn, so, as a Music Hunter, I was hoping you would contribute to my research." Senristu explained, fighting to keep her voice from trembling at the sound of the man's heartbeat. "Also, I'm sure my old teacher, who is very interested in this research, would be very grateful to you."

"And who is your teacher?"

"Nocturnal."

Hei Àn's fingers stopped moving over his computer's keyboard as soon as the word left Senritsu's lips and, finally, the General closed his laptop and raised his eyes to her.

She wished he hadn't.

Hei Àn was a man that imposed fear and respect, not only because of his powerful posture and physique, but also because of his eyes. They were pitch black and seemed to suck all of the hope from anyone who looked into them; as if, as long as the people were in his presence, their destiny was in his hands. Those black orbs were the very materialization of his cruel heartbeat.

"Nocturnal, you say?" Hei Àn asked, stretching his right hand to the phone sitting on his desk. "I'm sure you won't mind me calling him to confirm this. Right, Miss Ongaku?"

"Be my guest."

"You are a fraud." Hei Àn accused immediately and Senritsu heard the bodyguards behind her take a step forward. "Nocturnal has been in Greed Island for the last couple of years. If you were his student, you would know that reaching him is impossible

It took Senritsu every ounce of willpower to keep her body from shaking as she responded softly to the man's words.

"Nocturnal returned from the game a week ago. He has even released some new musical pieces that he wrote over the years in Greed Island. One is receiving particular attention from the media; it's called A Requiem for the Wind. As one of his biggest fans, I thought you knew that, General. I apologize."

Hei Àn's heartbeat hardened at those words and his index finger descend on the phone's buttons at alarming speed.

* * *

><p>"Hello, Mister Hei Àn." Nocturnal greeted through the phone, approaching its speaker to his deformed mouth. "I was expecting your call sooner."<p>

"_Nocturnal…" _The respect was evident in the man's voice. _"I did not know you had returned from the game."_

"Understandable since I did not make such a big deal of my homecoming. Well, what can I help you with? Please, bear in mind that I returned from Greed Island barely a week ago and have plenty to do at the moment, so I will not be able to accommodate a private audience for you in my schedule so soon."

"_Of course, I understand. This time I called you for another reason. There is a small woman here claiming to be one of your old students-"_

"Are you talking about little Ongaku?"

"_Yes. How did you know?"_

"She called me some days ago to ask me how was Greed Island and update me about her research about wind instruments. I was the one that told her about your spectacular dizi antique. I apologize if it was a bother for you, Mister Hei Àn; I just wanted to help her with the research."

"_It is no bother at all, Nocturnal. I just wanted to confirm that she is, indeed, who she claims to be."_

"She is."

"_Thank you for your time. And… about that private performance-"_

"I'll let you know as soon as I have the time, Mister Hei Àn. You have my word."

"_Thank you very much."_

"You are welcome."

Nocturnal sighed as he ended the call and put down his phone. Hei Àn was one of his biggest fans - if not the biggest – and had supported him from the very beginning of his career; be it with his influential name or with requests of private and very profitable performances from the musician. As a child and adolescent, Nocturnal had travelled many times to Cihan to play for the General.

However, in his early adult years, when Nocturnal got wind about the General's "hobbies", the man reduced his visits to Cihan as much as possible. The Music Hunter had wished to cut relations with the General completely, but did not have the courage to do so. Hei Àn's support was very important to his career, not to mention that…

"_Please, sir! You can't stop coming here; the General will be furious if you do so! Please, I'm begging you! In the name of the entire household – no! In the name of all Cihan - don't stop pleasing the General!"_

The Music Hunter shook his head, trying to erase the image of a young and skinny maid staring up at him with tearful eyes, terrified out of her wits as she begged him not to halt his private performances.

And so, Nocturnal continued performing to the infamous General, trying to ignore the rumours about the unfortunate souls locked inside his basement, being subject to the most diverse ways of torture and cruellest medical experiments. Only after his curse, Ging and Greed Island did the Music Hunter stop going there.

_And, in the meantime, Hei Àn got his hands in one of the solos of the Sonata of Darkness._

Nocturnal was very surprised when Senritsu had called him the day before, telling him that she had found the harp solo of the Sonata of Darkness, but was even more so when she asked him to lie for her. The woman told him she wished to feign interested in one of the General's antiques to get in his house and try to steal said solo and asked to use his name as a reference. Apparently, an Information Hunter told her that Hei Àn was a big fan of his.

Nocturnal asked her to rethink her decision, told her about the rumours he heard, but could not dissuade her; she was going there, with or without his support. The most he could do to ensure her protection was to use his name to back her up.

And so he did.

_Oh gods, let her walk out of there alive._

* * *

><p><strong>Civatan = Vatican<strong>

**Cihan = China**

**Jingbei = Beijing**

**I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of To Retrieve Music. :D ****Please, review and let me know what you thought about it; hopefully, it wasn't too confusing. =.=**

**And sorry if Hanzo was too OOC; I literally have no pratice whatsoever writing his character.**

**Kisses,**

**RedVoid**


	2. A x Black x Door

**Thank you so, so, SO much Guest, doudouchinois, ningJA, Sailor Pandabear, Bai-Feng333, pitou77, AtM0sFears, xXSaSuHiNaXx,  - C H A N, Guest, Sol, peaceful green and Nyu for the lovely reviews! Really, I was quite (pleasantly) surprise at how many reviews I got for the last chapter and very thrilled at how well it was received. :D LOVE YOU ALL! S2**

**Rhapsody: term similar to "fantasia" applied to pieces inspired by extroverted romantic notions.**

**Dizi (sorry, I forgot to put this on the last chapter =.=): a Chinese transverse flute**

**Music suggestion: The Kill - 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

><p>"Miss Ongaku."<p>

Senritsu raised her eyes from the antique dizi she was examining to the man standing by the room's door. He was tall and muscular, with cold grey eyes and a face that had its whole left side burned. The burnt mark extended to the back of his head, reducing his left ear to nothing more than a deformed and pink stub of flesh and cartilage. His head was perfectly shaved and he wore an impeccable black suit; the perfect look for one of Hei Àn's statuesque serious bodyguards.

"Yes, Mister… Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"That is because it was not said." The man explained in a dismissive tone. "General Hei Àn wants to know if you would care to join him for dinner."

_Not in a million years._

"It would be my pleasure."

"Of course." The man stated simply. "I shall be back to retrieve you in an hour."

As soon as the still anonymous bodyguard closed the door behind him, Senritsu let out a relieved sigh; so far, apart from a couple of maids and butlers, everyone in the household seemed to be cold and battle-hardened Nen-users, whose heartbeats made up for one very nerve-wrecking orchestra. As those thoughts crossed her mind, the Music Hunter scanned the room with tired eyes. She was in a small and traditional Cihanese room, kneeling on a red-cushion as she examined the instrument laying on the small and short table in front of her. A few feet in front of her laid a beautiful dragon statue that she pretended to take her time to examine; there were three cameras on the ceiling and all were staring at her.

Stealing the Sonata of Darkness would not be easy.

* * *

><p>Dinner was held in a luxurious Cihanese dining-room and, as expected, was extremely unpleasant and awkward. There was no small talk with the cold-blooded General; Hei Àn inquired relentlessly about Senritsu's observations of his instrument, as if to be sure that she was doing the job she claimed to be there for. Then, he asked about her professional past; when she became a Music Hunter, when Nocturnal started teaching her and about her previous jobs.<p>

Then, he asked about her deformity.

"I was born this way, General." Senritsu lied, tightening her small hands into fists beneath the table. "I'm very sorry if it bothers you."

"It does not." Hei Àn stated in an uninterested voice. "On the contrary, I have always had a deep curiosity in misshapen people such as yourself."

Senritsu had noticed that already. All of Hei Àn's bodyguards had some sort of deformity in their bodies or minds, be it a burnt mark, a missing limb or a tormented heartbeat.

"I find that the deformed have a most interesting view of the world. They can blame it for making them who they are, developing a great hate and vengeance inside themselves. Such strong feelings may take them down two paths: power over their despised world or destruction of themselves. Both delicious."

The General had a far-off look in his eyes as he spoke those cruel words - words that dripped with conviction and a twisted sort of ecstasy. Senritsu's eyes were wide and unbelieving.

"Or they can thank the world for making who they are, claiming that their defects are actually blessings. These misshapen claim the difficulties they faced – the prejudice and the isolation - made them stronger, kinder, wiser… better. Such a pathetic lie." Suddenly, Hei Àn's cold eyes focused on Senritsu's shocked ones with an intensity that made the Music Hunter shudder. "What about you, Miss Ongaku? Do you hate the world? Or do you thank it?"

At that moment, she understood her answer could very well decide if she would leave that dining room alive or not. His heartbeat was expectant and anxious to find out what the answer of "Nocturnal's apprentice" would be, but, most of all, it was ready to put an end to her life if he judged her unworthy of learning with the Music Hunter he so admired.

Senritsu's own heartbeat was uncertain and hesitant as she opened her mouth to answer the coldblooded man kneeling across the short table, some feet in front of her.

"… Neither."

The way the General's heart skipped a beat in surprise was confirmation that Senritsu had begun her answer well enough to capture his attention.

"I don't hate the world for making me like that because, despite everything my deformity put me through, I have a happy life. I'm a successful Music Hunter, student of Nocturnal, and have friends who care deeply about me. However, I don't thank this world either; if I didn't look like this, I'd probably be in almost the same situation I am in today, without the extra-suffering. All I can do is accept what the world did to me and do my best to change it so other people don't have to suffer as I did."

Long moments passed in what would be complete silence, if not for Senritsu's keen hearing allowing her to listen to Hei Àn's slow heartbeat deliberating about her words. Finally, it settled in a pleased anthem. But it was still a chilling song, that didn't lose any of its initial distrust towards her person.

"That-" Hei Àn began, allowing a chilling smile to stretch across his lips. "-is a very interesting point of view, Miss Ongaku. Of course, I did not expect any less of someone like you."

"Someone like me? You mean a… deformed, as you put it?"

"Did I offend you?" The General asked not even trying to pretend to care for her answer.

"Of course not." Senritsu answered truthfully. "I know what I look like, General. Having people point it out stopped bothering me ages ago."

"Good. I cannot stand whining." The man spoke coldly before sipping his green tea. "Answering your question: yes, a deformed. But not only that. You are also a musician – Nocturnal's student nonetheless – and a Hunter; both professions that I hold in very high esteem, seeing as they demand a very proactive personality. The fact that you acquired such status, conciliating them with your deformity, makes you a person worthy of my respect and appreciation, Miss."

The Genreal wasn't lying when he spoke those reassuring words. And yet, his heartbeat showed he remained ready to kill her at the moment's notice; all she needed to do was prove his seeming inherent distrust towards her correct or displease him with an answer, and she was done for. It was amazing how reading Hei Àn's heartbeat didn't make her feel at all more secure in his presence. Instead, it made her more and more nervous, for, despite obviously catching his interest and sympathy, it showed her that there was a thick wall between his feelings and his mind. Unlike Feitan, whose killing instincts came from the sadistic pleasure he felt – _needed to feel _- and were always directed to his foes, Hei Àn couldn't care less if he found himself killing someone or not, or if they were friend or foe. The man was a true psychopath.

And she had to keep him pleased and interested, no matter what.

"Thank you for saying that, sir." Senritsu spoke, smiling softly at the man. "It's hard to find non-Hunter people that see me like that – a person overcoming her challenges."

"And how do the common people see you?"

"A poor, little person; someone that deserves pitied stares and careful words." Senritsu explained. "Or an attraction; a _thing_ that should be stared at for minutes on a row and whispered about behind its back."

Everything she said was true; no matter where she went, people on the streets always stared at her with pity, shock or disgust. She knew most of them didn't mean anything bad by it, that they had good hearts and just couldn't help themselves, but, on the first couple of months after the curse, it still annoyed her. Sometimes, she thought about raising her sleeves to give them a real freak show. _You think my body's shape and height make me weird?_ She'd think. _Wait until you see my skin._

Hei Àn smirked at the almost imperceptible way the small Hunter scowled at her food as memories flooded her mind. He was satisfied with Nocturnal's choice of an apprentice; Miss Ongaku was a strong woman. Hopefully, her stay in his house would go with no incidents so she could walk out of there alive and breathing.

Senritsu noticed the small reluctance in killing her in the General's heartbeat and felt some weight be lifted off her shoulders. She was far from safe, but it was a start.

"It is no harm being an attraction from time to time, if for the right reason." Hei Àn resumed, earning himself a curious stare from the Music Hunter. "Play for me after dinner. You know I am fascinated by music; I just cannot allow Nocturnal's student to visit my home and leave without giving me a private performance. You can go back to examining my dizi afterwards."

Senritsu put a polite smile on her lips. "Of course."

* * *

><p>Senritsu shouldn't have used her Emitter's Nen when playing for Hei Àn.<p>

She knew she had to do her best to please the man, but maybe she had gone a little overboard with that. Senritsu knew Hei Àn deeply enjoyed listening to music, but she never thought he'd keep her playing to him for three hours straight. She honestly thought he'd have better things to do with his time.

Granted, she had to play for longer durations when she was with Feitan in Greed Island, but then she didn't have to pretend study an ancient instrument while using her hearing to memorize guards and employees' moving patterns throughout an enormous mansion. If she wanted to put her hands on the Sonata of Darkness that night, she needed time to plan her theft very well, and she couldn't do it while concentrating on her music.

She was saved by one of Hei Àn's bodyguards opening the music room's door; the unnamed man with a burn mark on his face.

"Excuse me." The bodyguard spoke, head bowed. "I apologize for interrupting your performance, General, but it is already 2300 hours."

"Already?" The General let out in a slow voice, not moving his cold eyes from Senritsu. "Time does fly by when you are enjoying yourself. Nocturnal did a good job teaching you, Miss Ongaku."

"Thank you, sir."

"Well, I think we both should call it for a day. Huo Chieh, escort Miss Ongaku to her bedroom."

"Yes, General."

The Music Hunter's eyes widened at hearing that. "I'm sorry sir, but I still hav-"

"Do not worry. You have my permission to spend one more day here to study my dizi. You had less than an hour to do so before dinner, after all."

Senritsu swallowed her complaints and smiled. "If it's not a bother, I'll accept your kindness, sir."

"Good."

* * *

><p>An hour later found Senritsu inside a wide and luxurious guest room; the lights were off and she was lying on her futon with her eyes closed. However, sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. The Music Hunter was focusing herself on her hearing, paying attention to all of the steps that were walking the mansion, understanding the bodyguards' movement patterns, memorizing which corridors would be vacant at each moment and planning the route she would follow to reach the underground facilities Hanzo had extensively told her about.<p>

It was all under control when, suddenly, a new pair of feet started to walk around the mansion followed closely by other two pairs. The new stride was strong and full of purpose and it drew Senritsu's full attention immediately. There was no doubts those were Hei Àn's steps. Her disregard to the other strides proved to be worth it as the General's steps grew fainter by the second. He was going down.

_To his secret basement no doubt._

Senritsu imprinted in her memory the route Hei Àn followed from his bedroom to a place on the mansion's lower levels, where he stopped walking and stood still for some moments.

One second, her ears were battling the anxious silence, straining to pick the slightest sound of Hei Àn's next movement. The next, they were assaulted by deafening screams of anger and agony.

The unconventional rhapsody didn't last for more than a couple of seconds, but it was more than enough to make Senritsu shot out of her futon and slap her hands over her ears as cold sweat streaked down her whole body

_W-What was that?_

Whatever it was, it was undoubtedly happening where the Sonata of Darkness was hidden. She had to get there and find the solo.

_And prevent those poor souls of continuing to scream such an agonizing melody._

* * *

><p>Nocturnal was inside his dimly lit office, sitting at his desk and holding his phone's microphone to his mouth and keeping the speaker a reasonable distance from his overly sensitive ears.<p>

Since the Music Hunter returned to his villa in the real world's Azian Continent, his office phone was just full of surprising calls. First, it was a strange and talkative Hunter called Hanzo, asking questions about Hei Àn for more than four hours straight. A couple of days later, Senritsu called, asking him to lie in her behalf to none other than Hei Àn himself. Then, there was Hei Àn's call that, though expected, was still very curious; the General's voice seemed colder than he remembered.

And now…

"_Why she called you?"_

"Your voice… Your Senritsu's friend. Feitan, right?"

"…_Just answer question."_

"How do you even know Senritsu called me? I mean, it is about her you are talking about, no?"

"_Of course I talking about her! Now answer question!"_

"…She wanted to ask me a favour."

"_What favour?"_

Nocturnal sighed. Should he tell him about it? Surely, if Senritsu wanted Feitan to know what she was doing, she would've told him herself… _But he is worried. And strong. He may go help her if he finds out about the dangers she is facing right now._

"She asked me to lie in her behalf to a Hei Àn, a Gen-"

"_I know who the shit is."_

The Music Hunter's black eyes widened behind his ceramic mask for a second before he shook his head and resumed talking.

"Well, she asked me to tell him she is a student of mine. It seems that Hei Àn has a solo of the Sonata of Darkness in his possession. Senritsu is in his home as we speak, pretending to be interested in examining one of the Genral's antique music instruments to look for the solo and steal it."

"_Idiot! I said no to go there!"_

There were some moments of silence before the Nocturnal continued. "If you truly know who Hei Àn is, then you must know in just how much danger Senritsu is in right now. I think… she is in dire need of your help, Feitan."

"_You think I no know that?! I-…" _

Nocturnal could hear the anger and frustration in the short man's voice and hear as he took in a deep breath, ready to say something else.

Then the line went dead.

The tall man let out a tired sigh as he removed his mask and rubbed his eyes in frustration. It seemed the amazing teamwork those two showed in Greed Island didn't follow them in the real world.

_Senritsu… Why did you have to do this alone?_

Slowly, the Music Hunter raised his eyes, setting them in the large, crystal globe standing a few feet in front of him, by one of the window's drawn red curtains. The globe been a present from none other than Hei Àn himself.

Without thinking, Nocturnal walked to the globe and rotated it until the Azian Continent came to sight. His home was about 6 hours away from Hei Àn's, something to make it easier for the Music Hunter to give the General his beloved private performances.

Jaw clenched, the cursed man marched up to his desk and called his secretary.

"_What can I do for you, sir?"_

"Anna, cancel my interview with the Treble Clef Magazine for tomorrow and any other appointments I may have for the day." Nocturnal spoke as he put his mask back on. "Something urgent came up. Hunter matters."

"_It's done, sir."_

"Thank you."

"_And sir…"_

"Yes?"

"_Come back safe."_

Nocturnal swallowed.

"I will do my best."

* * *

><p>It honestly wasn't that hard for Senritsu to get down to the basement unnoticed. Thank's to her hearing, she was able to find out which way to go and know if any guards were coming her way so it was easy for her to avoid them. Also, the hallways were in absolute darkness, so it wasn't too hard for the small and short woman to avoid being spotted by the surveillance cameras.<p>

Hence she managed to arrive to the spot where that horrendous screams had come from and where Hei Àn's heartbeat had disappeared with no problems. It was a black and large soundproof door, kept locked by two thick metal bars; the bars formed a cross in front of the door, with its ends disappearing into the walls. The door was at the down-end of a spiral flight of stairs and, close to the it, on the wall, there was a small panel with numbered buttons. A numerical code was needed to open the door.

As she stood in front of the door, Senritsu couldn't help but clench her hand around her flute. Naturally, she didn't expect Hei Àn's secret chambers to be left unguarded and open to anyone who came across them, but she was hoping to come across a lock that she could bypass. She was no technology wizard to hack into Hei Àn's security system and find out the code to open the soundproof door.

_There must be a way for me to get in. Maybe if I-_

Before the Music Hunter could finish her thoughts, something clicked in the door and the metal bars that held it locked began to move inwards on the door. A second later found the door open and Senritsu hidden by the darkness, crouched behind the stairs. For the first time in her life, the cursed woman found herself thanking her unnaturally short body, which kept her from the immediate line of sight of taller people, such as the arm-missing bodyguard that was walking through the door.

Resisting the urge to cover her ears and clench her eyes shut at the horrible sounds assaulting her ears, Senritsu stared with attentive eyes as the man let a shudder pass through his body and punched the numeric code on the door's panel, relocking it.

Senritsu waited until the bodyguard's footsteps were at a safe distance before standing up from her hiding place and walking to the door's panel. On her tiptoes and using her flute as an extension of her arm, she typed the security code.

_0-1-1-2-3-5-8. The first seven numbers of the Fibonacci sequence._

The Music Hunter knew she was putting herself at grand risk as she waited for the door to open. For all she knew, it could take her right to the middle of a bright room, where she would be easily identified and surrounded by enemies.

But there was no going back now. The door was already opened.

And, standing tall right in front of her, was a surprised Hei Àn, with his right arm raised, as if ready to type the code on his side of the door. Behind him, there was Huo Chieh.

"Miss Ongaku." The General began, in a chilling voice that managed to overpower to agonizing screams and heartbeats coming from inside the basement. "You have some explanation to do."

Senritsu swallowed hard and nodded once before listening to the bodyguard's lightning-fast steps.

The small woman heard a dry 'thump' sound and felt a pain on the back of her head

Then, she heard nothing else.

* * *

><p><strong>I really think Hei Àn is the craziest OC I've created so far. Really, Altus' issues don't hold a candle to the General. XD<strong>

**Pratically nothing from Feitan this chapter (T.T), but this will change on the next one. ;)**

**I hope you all enjoyed this! :D**

**Kisses,**

**RedVoid**


	3. Show x of x Horrors

**Everyone, I'm so sorry for taking so long to post this! With the end of my summer vacations and the restart of college, I really haven't had much time to write. Also, with me having to get back in track with a sleep schedule that doesn't involve sleeping until 2pm, I haven't had the energy either. XP Still, I'm very sorry. **

**And THANK YOU SO MUCH ****pitou77,**** Y A D Y– C H A N, ****doudouchinois,** **Sailor Pandabear,** **AtM0sFears****, ****BK-201****, ****Sol**, **Mayu****, ****Undersc0re**** and ****AlisterSeiyu**** for your reviews! They really helped me to make time to write this chapter. They also made me extremely happy! =.= *.***

**_WARNING_: gruesome descriptions ahead. As a matter of fact, I'll up this fic's rating to M, because I'm going to talk about some serious stuff here. ****You remember my words in the first chapter, that I would put some shocking, but true information I found online? It will be here, so brace yourselves (I'll put an warning before it and, if you are under 18 and/or does not wish to be disturbed by horrifying fact_s _of our reality, I _ASK_ you to please skip it).**

**chaconne: ****a slow, stately instrumental work in duple meter employing variations.**

**Music suggestion: The High Road - Three Days Grace**

* * *

><p>The first thing Senritsu noted when she woke up were the loud heartbeats and screams surrounding her; that gruesome orchestra was back to torment her at full-force and it was more than enough to make her heart speed up its tempo. The second thing was that she didn't have her flute or Hunter License on her anymore. The third was that she was lying on a hard surface, and unbound – something very weird, considering that she had been caught red-handed by Hei Àn. Brows furrowed in confusion, the small Music Hunter opened her eyes.<p>

She was alone, lying on the floor of a small and poorly lit glass-room, which reminded her of a fish-tank, or even a display case.

As she sat up, Senritsu noticed something that made her heart beat even faster than before: she wasn't wearing her own clothes. In fact, the… thing that adorned her small body was nothing more than a large hospital gown that dragged on the floor beneath her and left her deformed arms completely exposed.

However, the Music Hunter had little time to feel outraged and ashamed by the fact that Hei Àn had someone – or was it himself? – strip her of her clothing, for the heartbeats and screams soon were the focus of her attention once again and, as soon as she raised her eyes to see what exactly was around her, all she could see and feel was horror.

Surrounding her were more glass-rooms. Only they were well lit, _very_ well lit.

All displaying what seemed to be Hei Àn's own show of horrors.

* * *

><p>Despite arriving at Jingbei late at night, Feitan had no problems finding a car to drive him to General Hei Àn's den. It was nothing that a sword to the throat couldn't arrange.<p>

So now, as the torturer sat back and waited for his driver to speed through red lights, _because_ his life depended on it, he couldn't help but let his thoughts fly to the man he would face – _kill_ - in a matter of hours: Hei Àn.

Automatically, Feitan's mind summoned images of a bloodied boot pressing his head down on the dirt as sharp and unfeeling eyes stared down at him, _daring _him to get up again. Not three meters away, he could see another pair of eyes staring at him; wide, tear-stricken and fearful eyes that belonged to a girl lying limp on the mud, unmoving, as men, much older men, did _things_ to her; things Feitan didn't understand at the time.

Then, came images of the girl's lips moving slowly, begging for death. Then, images of those razor-sharp eyes that had been glaring down at him turning away as the boot was raised from his head and walked to the girl's fallen form. Images of those wide and fearful eyes turning glassy and gray as the sound of a gun echoed through the air.

Then, there were only voices in Feitan's head.

"_Do not kill the boy. He claims that we are slaving him and his family, that what we give him is hardly enough to survive. Well… let us show him what truly is hard - give him a true challenge in life. Drop him in Meteor City. Let him fight for his survival there."_

"_Yes, Lieutenant General Hei Àn, sir."_

Feitan clenched his fists, fighting to keep his murderous Aura from killing his driver before he reached his destination.

_I fighted and I survived, Hei Àn. And I finally come back for you._

* * *

><p>"Do you enjoy my projects, Miss <em>Senritsu<em>?"

The Music Hunter had heard when a door opened behind her, allowing determined steps march into her glass prison and heard the question he asked and the name he used. However, she was too horrified by the images before her to acknowledge the General's presence, be it with an answer or even a glance.

At her right, she could see a cell with three men, all slouched on the floor, defeated by life – or, more specifically, by the man standing behind her. One was clearly missing his right arm. Another seemed to have his legs replaced by twisted branches that could never support his weight. The third one's more prominent feature was his condition of cachexia; only seconds later did she notice that the lower half of his face seemed to have melted off, leaving him with a skin-covered excavation where his mouth should be. In that cell, Senritsu also could see some work-out instruments and a mini-fridge, both seeming untouched by the three men. From those men, she heard heartbeats full of despair.

"They had all of their Aura nodes opened forcefully with Nen. As you can see, they did not manage to control the leaking of Aura fast enough and suffered the consequences of their failure." Hei Àn explained calmly. "And so far, they have done nothing to overcome them."

**WARNING. HORRIFYING FACT STARTS NOW.**

Senritsu didn't respond; she just turned her head to the cell at her left, which was much larger and full of learning toys. In there, she could see something that she was sure would haunt her for the rest of her life: a skinny, little girl – no older than 11 – walking around her cell, slowly as if she was relearning the movements. Something she probably was; her limbs had all been cut off, although they were replaced by very advanced prosthetics. Senritsu also could see cochlear implants on her head and acid-scars on her eyes, that showed the girl had close to none eyesight left. From her heartbeat, strangely, she heard only determination and gratitude.

"Believe me or not, that one was not my doing." Hei Àn began, voice and heartbeat completely neutral. "Some black market doctor found out about my peculiar projects here and promised me he had something that I would enjoy greatly. Curious as I am, I went to his home to see what it was. There, I found five naked girls hanging on his bedroom ceiling by some silicone covers they had over their members' stumps. Lolita Sex Dolls, he called them. His business was to get children from poor families and mutilate them, removing their limbs, vocal cords, teeth, eyesight and hearing, before selling them as sex dolls."

Senritsu couldn't take it anymore, she hunched over and vomited. The General waited patiently until she was done before continuing.

"Unfortunately for him, my perversion – yes, I know I am perverted, Miss Senritsu – is not one of a sexual kind. My pleasure lies in watching people suffer and hit the absolute rock bottom of their lives, then stand up again. It fascinates me how resilient human beings can be in the face of adversity. Turning them into defenceless and dependent creatures is the very opposite of what I strive. That doctor's work did nothing but anger me and it shames to admit it but, at seeing children being stripped away of any chance of achieving their true potential like that, I lost my temper. Before I knew it, I had ordered Huo Chieh to kill the doctor and bring the girls here. I gave them the best chances to overcome their difficulties with prosthetics, cochlear implants, new teeth, teachers and stimuli for them to develop their skills. Unfortunately, four of them were not strong enough to survive their trials and soon died of inanition. However, Dasha over there made it all worth it. Amongst everyone in this basement- no, in this mansion, she is, by far, the one who has suffered the most and yet there she is walking around on her own two feet. Tell me if it is not the most amazing thing in the world? To see someone go through so much and yet stand up again?"

By the time Hei Àn had finished, his usually unfeeling voice had acquired that chilling glee that made Senritsu want to curl up in fear. But she was too shocked to express said fear in any way. What she didn't know was if she was more shocked by Hei Àn's perverted sense of pleasure or by the fact that said perversion had actually saved the life of a little girl most would consider far beyond human help.

**END OF HORRIFYING FACT. **

And so, with nothing to say, Senritsu turned her neck once more, moving to the cell in the middle, wherein laid many gruesome and blackened forms. Forms that she would confound with burned corpses, was it not for the slow and rhythmic expansion and reduction of their thoraxes showing that they were, in fact, alive. Alive and screaming in agony and hate.

"Those have listened to a special melody, just a week ago. One that I am sure you heard about."

"The Sonata of Darkness." The whispered words were out of Senritsu's mouth before she could think.

"Indeed." Hei Àn confirmed. "It is the reason you came here, is it not?"

"Yes."

Then, Hei Àn took a step towards the Music Hunter and grabbed her deformed arm.

"You have listened to it." The General spoke in a voice that held undeniable awe; his usual calm and cold heartbeat accelerated in excitement. "You survived it. And you are _living_ now – not just surviving like those things who struggle so hard and barely can take a breath – you are _living_ like a normal person. No, like an extraordinary person. You are both a musician _and_ a Hunter. You do more than live, Senritsu, you _create _and you _hunt. _You surpass barriers every human faces when creating music from nothing. You surpass the barriers most regular humans will never know even exist every time you use Nen. And you surpassed barriers most Hunters will never face by confronting the Sonata of Darkness and surviving it, _living _past it."

By the time his speech was over, the General's fingers were digging so deep into the flesh of Senritsu's arm that they started to draw blood. The Hunter tried to protect her body with Ken, but noticed she wasn't able to use her Aura while in the room; she was being forced into a state of Zetsu. Regarding physical strength alone, Senritsu's small body was completely vulnerable to Hei Àn's powerful frame, so she had no choice but endure the purple and painful handprint mark she was sure had formed on her arm, beneath the man's hand.

"And what do you intend to do to me?" The Music Hunter asked, doing her best to ignore the heartbeats and screams coming from around her and focus on the calm rhythm of Hei Àn's heart.

"First of all: study you, of course." The General spoke in his unfeeling voice and let go fo her arm, completely ignoring the fear that became clear in the soft woman's expression. "I want to understand what changes - besides the obvious physical ones – listening to the Sonata of Darkness have brought upon you. Then, it will be your choice."

The small woman couldn't help but widen her eyes at that. He was telling the truth.

"You may choose to remain here in my mansion, working for me as my personal musician and, depending on your skills, my bodyguard."

"Or?"

The General didn't answer her but his heartbeat did. It was cold and murderous, and it showed how ready the man was to dispose of her life on a moment's notice.

"I see…" Senritsu let out, feeling her arms and legs tremble in fear.

This was it. She wouldn't be able to destroy the remaining solos of the Sonata of Darkness. She wouldn't be able to play side by side with Nocturnal as she had wished since she was a little kid. She wouldn't be able to check up on Kurapika and ensure that her precious friend was happy and not in a self-destructive path for revenge.

She wouldn't be able to listen to Feitan's heartbeat again; would never take the pleasure of listening to its chaotic requiem turn into a not-quite-harmless but still almost peaceful chaconne.

Strangely, at that exact moment she could hear the thief's voice in her head.

"_I told so."_

* * *

><p>Huo Chieh stood guard outside the special facilities, lightening a match, watching its flame shine with a soft glow before it died and it was dark again. Then, he would get another match and repeat the process. He didn't know which he hated the most; the darkness, or the embers' light.<p>

As he repeated the action, again and again, he couldn't keep the memories from coming to him.

* * *

><p><em>Huo Chieh was the son of a prostitute and, as such, spent the first years of his life in a whorehouse. However, contrary to what most believed, he had had a very guarded and innocent childhood. Nothing improper happened when he was in close range, and no client had ever looked or touched him inappropriately. He didn't even know what happened in his home, when a man and a woman got behind closed doors.<em>

_He found out when he was 13._

_Huo Chieh was supposed to be on kitchen duty that day, but decided to put on the rebellious teenager pose and skipped it, hiding in one of the many empty rooms of his home. As he lied on the bed, thinking of nothing in particular,a feminine moan made its way to Huo Chieh's ears. The voice was particularly familiar._

_Alert, the boy jumped to his feet and turned his head from side to side, trying to pinpoint the sound's origin. More moans came and, before the boy knew it, he was standing in front of the room's right wall, looking for the one of the many magic eyes that were all around his home's walls._

_The image he saw through it was one he would never erase from his mind._

_His mother was naked on the other room, beneath a fat man he had never seen before, and her mouth was open, letting out those loud moans that had disturbed him. __The boy didn't know what to feel at seeing that._

_However, then the man slapped one of his hands across his mother's face, he knew exactly what he felt: anger, protectiveness and blood lust._

_Unfortunately for the boy, someone else had felt his bloodlust as well. _

_That fat man hovering over his mother was a very important General in Cihan's army and, as such, had an… agent of sorts with him to ensure his safety and, most of all, the confidentiality of his activities in the brothel._

_The agent felt young Huo Chieh's killer intent and acted on impulse, knocking the boy out._

Huo Chieh's memories were a little confusing after that.

_He remembered his mother crying, begging them not to take him form her. Then, he remembered a fireplace in a dark room. _

_Then, he remembered hell._

_His head was being pushed down inside that dark room's fireplace and, no matter how much he screamed, cried and begged, they – whoever they were - did not let go. The young Huo Chieh felt the flames licking the left of his face and head, burning it with the greatest passion he had seen in his life._

_The hell only stopped when a cold voice cut into the room, telling them it was enough, that he would take it from there. Finally free to get away from the flames, Huo Chieh raised his teary eyes to the man to whom the voice belonged._

_Standing tall and imposing in the middle of the dark room, illuminated by the fireplace's embers, was the man with the coldest eyes Huo Chieh had ever seen._

"_My name is Hei Àn. And you belong to me now."_

* * *

><p>On that day, Huo Chieh had learned three things that he would carry with him all his life.<p>

Emotions were better left forgotten.

Always know what is happening around you.

Hei Àn was his god.

And it was because of those three things that, as his wide En allowed him to feel the other bodyguards being killed on the mansion's upper levels one by one by a small, uninvited devil, he felt nothing and he did nothing.

Those bodyguards – the people he was supposed to consider companions – meant nothing to him.

He was getting a good amount of information about the small perpetrator's fighting style.

Hei Àn had ordered him to stay put, guarding the black door.

* * *

><p><strong>I really hope the chapter was worth the wait. =.=<strong>

**Sorry again for taking so long!**

**Kisses,**

**RedVoid**


	4. Transmuter x Transmuter x Enhancer

**Thank you very much ****pitou77****, ****Sailor Pandabear****, ****nyu****, ****Atm0stFears****, ****Bai-Feng333****doudouchinois****, ****Sol,****BK-201**** and ****OoO ****for reviewing to last chapter! :D**

**Music suggestion: One More Soul to the Call - Akira Yamaoka and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn; Silent Hill Homecoming**

* * *

><p>Feitan began searching Hei Àn's mansion from the top, hoping that, by some sort of miracle, Senristu would've managed to keep herself from getting the General's attention and be fast asleep in a bed. If he was lucky enough, he'd order the small woman out of the mansion and then search each and every room, kill their occupants swiftly until there was only Hei Àn left.<p>

Then, he'd take his sweet time with the General. With or without Senritsu there to watch and hear what he'd do to the man.

As the Spider searched the mansion's bedrooms, he felt anger - and something else he couldn't quite put a name on – grow in him each time he failed to locate Senritsu. Once he had finally ceased his pursuits and killed every bodyguard of the top-floor, Feitan was nothing less than seething and, not for the first time, he wished he had chained the gentle Music Hunter to his side.

_Stupid woman can't keep safe; she got find danger. _

The torturer was sure Hei Àn was doing something to the small woman and that it was all because she couldn't bear to stay put when the Sonata of Darkness was involved. He'd have to show her what happened when she disobeyed his orders.

The thief scowled.

_What I do? Kill her? Hurt her?_

Somehow, Feitan didn't find those choices agreeable.

_Force her watch as I torture Hei Àn?_

That still left him with a nagging feeling in his chest that he believed was guilt. He remembered all too well how distressed she was in Greed Island, when he was about to play with some of the other players.

…_do nothing?_

That option just increased the anger inside the Spider, but the nagging feeling had left him and that was good enough. Anger Feitan could deal with, but guilt was something the torturer just didn't do.

_But nothing is no good. I have punish her for ignored me._

How he would do it was something he'd decide later, once Hei Àn was dead and this mansion destroyed. Right now, he had other things to worry about.

Like dealing with those annoying bodyguards.

* * *

><p>Once Huo Chieh's En told him that all of the bodyguards from the upper floors were dead, he started to slowly make his way up the basement's stairs. The small space between the end of them and the black door wasn't appropriate in the least for a fight.<p>

As soon as the scarred man reached the wine cellar on the mansion's first floor, a blade sliced at his throat. The blow would've easily decapitated the man if he hadn't moved at the last second, jumping up to the ceiling, then using it to boost himself towards his short attacker. Huo Chieh's speed, combined with the fortuitous counter-attack was enough to allow him to deliver a successful kick to the side of the intruder's face, making the small man fly through the wine cellar's wall and into the dinning room.

Feitan spat blood on the ground as he stood up. This man he was about to face was, without doubts, much stronger than all of Hei Àn's other bodyguards combined.

As Huo Chieh calmly passed through the hole in the wall then began to follow its length in a deliberate pace, Feitan's eyes narrowed to slits, trying to make out the man's features despite the night's darkness enveloping them. Huo Chieh allowed him to do so by flicking the light switch on.

Feitan's eyes widened in realization.

* * *

><p><em>Three children, a boy and two twin girls, stood in front of a small and old wooden house, watching with dumbfounded eyes as a pregnant woman was dragged away from it by two soldiers, crying and begging them to let her go and not do it. Inside the house, a man was fallen on the ground, beaten bloody.<em>

_The small boy was the first to move. He ran to the house, grabbed a small axe and then moved towards one of the soldiers, weapon raised above his head and ready to strike._

_Before the weapon could make contact, another soldier appeared and took it from the boy's hands. Said soldier had a burned face._

_Axe in hand, he stared down at the boy before raising his eyes to the two little girls standing a few feet away from them, watching what was happening with terrified eyes. Without a second thought, the scarred man grabbed the back of the boy's shirt and threw him away. Before the kid could stand up again, a soldier stepped on his body, pushing him on the muddy ground._

_The bravest of the girls screamed "__弟__!_"_and ran towards the boy._

_However, before she could reach him, the burned soldier grabbed her around the waist with his free arm and raised her from the ground. The girl screamed and struggled in his grip, but the man was completely unfazed as he turned his gaze to the right, where stood yet another of the Army's members. This one had an imposing posture and unfeeling eyes; he was obviously the leader._

"_General, it seems we were lied to." The scarred man spoke calmly. "They have three children, not just two. They obviously cannot pay the fine. What should we do about it?"_

_The pregnant woman stared at her three children with wide eyes full of fear. __"Please, don't harm them! Please, I'm begging you! I'll do whatever you want! Just don't harm my children! It's not their fault!"_

_The General settled his cold eyes on her. "You lied to the Government. You said you had only two children."_

"_No, sir, I'd never lie to you! They asked me how many pregnancies I had gone through and I answered honestly! My girls are twins, sir, they were born together!" The woman cried. "Please, have mercy! They've done nothing wrong, sir! They help in the farm! They help grow food for our country! Don't hurt them, please! You're going to take one child from me already, one that isn't even born yet, please don't take another!"_

"_Indeed, I will terminate your pregnancy. It is a good thing you understand that already." The General spoke coldly. "But you have broken the law already. You have three children, when it is clear that peasants from the rural area can only bear two. The Government demands a fine for this transgression and you cannot afford it."_

"_Oh, sir, I'll find a way to pay you! No matter how, I promise I will! Please, just let my children go!"_

_The General stared hard into the woman's eyes before moving to her children. First, he stared at the boy, who was glaring murderously at him from his place on the floor; he showed promise. Then, the man's gaze went to the girl being held by his trusted bodyguard; there were tears in her eyes, but also the same promising fire he found in the boy's orbs. Finally, his cold eyes settled on the girl standing a couple of feet away from her family; she was trembling in fear and had urinated herself, and her eyes were submissive and scared – she was worthless._

"_The law is clear. Only two children per couple." The General stated, turning his eyes back to the woman's. "Huo Chieh, dispose of the scared one."_

"_Yes, General Hei Àn."_

_The pregnant woman cried out in misery as the axe flew from the burned soldier's hand to her daughter's head._

* * *

><p>Feitan glared hatefully as the memories came to him. In front of him stood none other than the scarred man from his past.<p>

Huo Chieh, General's Hei Àn's lapdog.

Huo Chieh, the man who had murdered one of his older sisters.

Huo Chieh, the man he was about to kill.

The torturer's murderous Aura spiked dangerously and his opponent knew immediately that their fight would be personal. Huo Chieh didn't know where, but it was clear he had met the short devil before and he could see clearly in his hateful glare that he remembered him all too well. Better for him; the more emotional his opponent was, bigger was the chance of him making a mistake.

Unable to wait for another second to have Huo Chieh's head rolling on the floor, Feitan raised his blade and attacked the man with all of his speed. Speed that was evenly matched by the scarred man, who jumped from wall to wall in the dining room, dodging each and every attack that came his way and never giving the Spider an opening to catch him unaware.

The bodyguard was fast and he was smart, but Feitan would get the better of him. He always did.

Sooner than the Spider expected, Huo Chieh made a mistake: he gave his back to the thief as he jumped away from him. Not one to let opportunities pass him by, Feitan quickly leaped towards his target, Ko activated so he could deliver the most powerful blow he could muster. It left Feitan completely defenceless, but that was of no importance; he would put an end to that miserable bastard's life with that one blow.

Or so the Spider thought.

Before his blade could connect, Huo Chieh turned around and raised his arm to the thief's chest.

Feitan felt the fabric of his coat melt on his chest before he saw the flames leaving Huo Chieh's hand and engulfing his body. The thief activated Ken as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough to protect his body from the flame's cruel caresses.

Gritting his teeth as to not cry out in pain, the Spider jumped back from his opponent. Once he was a safe distance, Feitan used his free hand to tear the remainders of his coat from his body, hissing in pain as he glared at the burnt man standing calmly in front of him, flames still dancing passionately around his right arm.

_So you're Transmuter like me._

Feitan found it ironic how his nemesis' Nen was similar to his. Even their developed abilities could be compared; after all, Huo Chieh's fire trick was nothing more than Feitan's Rising Sun in a reduced scale.

The thief felt tempted to use that power to end the fight, if only to show how superior he was, but decided against it. His Rising Sun would destroy the whole mansion and Senritsu was still in there somewhere.

But still, the Spider had to end this fight soon, not only moving his burnt body would prove to be pure agony for him, but he also couldn't take any more damage from Huo Chieh. He still had Hei Àn to deal with.

Feitan tightened his grip on his sword's hilt when the flames started to grow, enveloping the length of Huo Chieh's body like a lover would. The bodyguard would be a tougher opponent than he believed. The Spider's muscles tensed when the scarred man took a step forward; it was clear he intended to be the one to initiate the attack this time.

However, for both of their surprises, a large chunk of a concrete flew towards Huo Chieh, hitting him on the side and pushing him until he hit went through one of the room's walls.

Automatically, Feitan turned his head to the direction the stone had come from and his eyes widened at what he saw. Standing there, just as tall and lanky as the torturer remembered, was none other than that infuriating Music Hunter, Nocturnal.

"I apologize for my delay." The tall man spoke, not moving his gaze from Huo Chieh's general direction. "I should have come here much sooner."

Feitan scowled. "You should no come here at all. I take care of everything. It's no your business."

Behind his ceramic mask, Nocturnal smiled. Despite the short man's words, he could hear in his heartbeat the tiniest bit of relief; it was hidden by a thick veil of annoyance, but it was there.

"Well, I am here now. Let us just make the best of it and get Senritsu safe."

Feitan scowled at the idea of accepting the Music Hunter's help, but kept his mouth shut in acquiescence when the burning in his body spiked and came close to agony.

Huo Chieh was calmly standing up from the debris and turning to them as if he hadn't just been hit by a 2.600kg piece of concrete; the flames' never stopped caressing his skin.

"Mr Nocturnal." Huo Chieh greeted with a polite nod. "General Hei Àn deeply enjoys your music and would be utmost displeased to know that I had to kill you for trespassing. If you turn around and leave right now, I promise to forget this ever happened and let you go with no repercussions. We will 'call it even'."

"What if I do not?"

"I will kill you alongside the half-pint over there."

The thief narrowed his eyes at the nickname but held his annoyance in. He couldn't afford more careless attacks like the last one.

"Do your worst, Huo Chieh."

As a servant complying with his order, Huo Chieh fed the flames dancing around his body with his Aura, making them burn with renewed life and their colour change from blood red to mesmerizing blue. It wasn't needed Gyo to see that the embers that now kissed the scarred man's body were much more unforgiving than the others. They were playing a sudden death game: one hit and you're out.

Huo Chieh leaped towards Feitan first. _The weaker the enemy, the easier it will be._

To the bodyguard's surprise, instead of being slowed down by his injuries, Feitan was actually faster than before, managing to avoid his attacks with a series of well-timed feints. Unsurprisingly, Nocturnal didn't remain still while Huo Chieh attacked Feitan. The Music Hunter continued to throw heavy debris towards the bodyguard, distracting him from his attacks and making it easier for the short thief to avoid them.

An especially well timed rock thrown towards Huo Chieh forced him to give Feitan an opening to shove his blade on the bodyguard's back, right between the shoulder blades. Careful not to focus all of his Aura on Ko this time, the Spider took his chance, watching with narrowed eyes as the blade approached its future victim.

Then, the Spider widened his eyes and aborted his attack, jumping away from the human torch. At a safe distance from his enemy, Feitan raised his blade in front of his face and examined it. Its tip had been completely melted by the blue fire hugging Huo Chieh's body.

"You see now?" The bodyguard asked, eyes glued on the thief. "You cannot hope to defeat me."

Feitan glared at the scarred man. Oh, he would defeat him; even if he had to use his Rising Sun and burn the whole place to the ground, he would defeat him.

"You truly think so?"

Nocturnal's words took the Spider from his murderous thoughts, making him and the bodyguard turn their heads in the Music Hunter's direction.

"Fire is a fickle mistress, Huo Chieh. It needs more than your Aura to keep burning that passionately. It needs oxygen as well."

The scarred man scowled. "Your point?"

"My point…" Nocturnal began, concentrating an immense amount of Nen around his arms. "…is that I can defeat you."

With a speed neither Feitan of Huo Chieh expected, Nocturnal ran towards the later, shoving his open hands on his chest. Surprisingly, the flames didn't touch Nocturnal skin.

_That right. _Feitan thought. _He's Enhancer. His Ken is more strong than Huo Chieh's or my._

Seizing Huo Chieh's momentarily shock, Nocturnal emitted a strong pulse of Aura from his hands, sweeping away the oxygen and flames around the scarred man's body.

Feitan smirked in sadistic anticipation. Not only Huo Chieh's flames stopped dancing around him, but the bodyguard had also concentrated his Aura on his chest, to protect himself from receiving damage from Nocturnal's blow. Now, even his melted blade would be more than enough to claim his life.

Huo Chieh saw the short devil leap towards him, raised blade aiming at the spot between his eyes, and turned around to retreat.

However, Nocturnal had listened to his intentions in his heartbeat and wasn't about to allow that to happen. Quickly, the Music Hunter opened his arms and bent down so he could tackle the bodyguard. Arms encircling the bodyguard's waist from behind, Nocturnal raised Huo Chieh in the air, as if offering his life to the torturer.

In a last attempt to save himself, Huo Chieh used Ken to protect the area between his shoulder blades. It was the place the thief tried to attack before, maybe he would do so again. Unfortunately for him, Feitan intended to make this attack count. As he kneeled on Nocturnal's shoulders, the thief used Gyo and noticed the bodyguard's last defence. It was easy for him to avoid it completely.

The melted tip of Feitan's blade slid comfortably into Huo Chieh's skull, as if it belonged there.

_I meant to kill you. _The torturer thought, smiling as the blood tainted his blade. _Now you know how Dan Chuern feeled, you piece of shit._

Nocturnal felt the body in his arms go limp and quickly dropped it to the floor. He wasn't very comfortable of the idea of killing in general and he didn't want warm blood on his hands, literally.

Without a word, the Music Hunter turned to look at Feitan, who was now standing by his side, observing Huo Chieh's body with sadistic glee. The tall man couldn't help but frown behind his mask as he took in the Spider's state. It was a miracle that the short man could move as if nothing had happened; those burns around his body seemed to be very painful. However, Nocturnal said nothing about that, knowing from the man's heartbeat that he didn't care about whatever he had to say. All he could hear in the torturer's heartbeat was an immense satisfaction and an intense bloodlust.

"Let us go." The Music Hunter spoke in a calm voice. "I want to get Senritsu out of here as soon as possible."

Feitan scowled, but nodded nonetheless. If the lanky man was there just to take Senritsu away, he could deal with him. However, if he dared to steal Hei Àn's life from him…

_I just kill him too._

* * *

><p><strong>Now, I want to leave you with the translation (again, courtesy of the internet) of some of the Chinese names and words I used so far:<strong>

**弟 ****(di): younger brother**

**Dan Chuern: simple and pure; unpretending**

**Huo: fire**

**Chieh: concubine**

**And we had a new flashback about Feitan's past in this chapter (not the last one). I hope you enjoyed it. :D**

**Also, while I did base the flashback on China's one-child policy and the abuses many women sadly have to endure from their Government (forced abortions do happen), the characters I used are in no way, shape or form related to people in the real world. **

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. And I apologize for the wait, but I was having a difficult time writing Feitan and Nocturnal's fight against Huo Chieh. So, p****lease, review and tell me what you think about it. Writing fights always make me apprehensive. =.=**

**Kisses,**

**RedVoid**


	5. Hei x Àn's x Deformity

**I'm so sorry for taking so long to post this. But, honestly, It couldn't be helped; college has been keeping me rather busy these weeks.**

**And thank you SO MUCH for reviewing! pitou77, doudouchinois, BK-201 (I'm going to reply for your review after the chapter, okay?), SplatterCracker, Bai-Feng333, AtM0sFears, DustyTypewriter, Yandere Shoujo, AngelaNoche, Mayu, Guest and KSHMR, I absolutely LOVE to know what you're thinking about this and really appreciate you all taking the time to tell me ;D**

**Music suggestion: The Game of Life - Scorpions**

**Just one more thing before begining the chapter: dialogues in bold letters are in HxH's chinese. **

* * *

><p>Nocturnal had never been a fan of violence and he particularly disliked anything that should be settled by brute force alone; however, he couldn't deny the perks of being an Enhancer. It allowed him to become very strong with little training, it gave him an immense persuasive leverage when dealing with shady names, and it allowed him punch holes through 2-meter thick concrete walls.<p>

Like the one separating him and Feitan from the inside of Hei Àn's basement.

As soon as a part of the wall fell down in front of the thin Music Hunter, he dropped to his knees and slammed his hands over his ears. There were many heartbeats in Hei Àn's basement, and almost all of them sang a tune of agony, misery and hate. It was too much for the man to take at once.

Confused and annoyed at Nocturnal's antics, Feitan raised his leg to deliver a kick to the man's side and demand him to get up; however, when his eyes made a quick scan of what was beyond the wall's hole, his body stopped moving altogether.

Deformed people seemed to stare back at him from glass cages with bottomless eyes that seemed to beg and damn at the same time.

Having spent days with Senritsu back in Greed Island, Feitan automatically understood what had the tall Music Hunter on his knees.

_He no can take hearing their heartbeats._

"I no wait for you." The Spider stated simply, not lowering his gaze to the suffering man by his side. "I no have time to lose and I no need you."

Without a second thought, Feitan entered the hellish nightmare that was Hei Àn's "hobby", feeling his heart increase its pace as his eyes took in the tortured images around him. But it was not fear that made the torturer's heartbeat speed up. Oh no, it was something else entirely, for, as much as Feitan despised and hated Hei Àn, he was still a sadist that couldn't help but think-

_Not bad._

* * *

><p>"Did you hear that?" Hei Àn asked, head raising in alarm. "That loud noise just now…"<p>

Besides the General stood a man appearing to be in his late sixties when, in reality, he was very close to completing the eighth decade of his life. Despite that, his hands were steady, his brain was keen and his blue eyes were sharp. He was of medium height with grey hair that was once platinum blonde, and he was wearing a long white coat and blood-coated surgical gloves. His name was Joseph Heier.

"Yes. It seemed like something heavy falling." The doctor answered, not raising his eyes from his work and never stopping moving his hands. "Maybe you should go check it out, boy. I'm almost finished here, anyway; you won't miss much."

Hei Àn looked down at the doctor's working hands, hesitating for a second, before giving him a nod and turning around to march out of the autopsy room.

Laying on the autopsy table was an unconscious Senritsu, with her thorax cut open from the end of her stenum to the beginning of her pelvis in a vertical incision, allowing the world to see her organs moving inside her body.

Dr Heier smiled and went to get his personal camera. The room had its own footage system that recorded everything the doctor did in there for further studies; however, when the case was particularly appealing for him, he always kept his own images as souvenirs.

And Joseph Heier just loved vivisections.

* * *

><p>Using Zetsu to hide his presence, Feitan stalked through the basement's facilities, searching for any signs of Hei Àn or Senritsu. He went through the large room full of glass cells, then through a maze of corridors that took an underground garage, large and full of different types of cars. The thief found himself surrounded by many limos, Ferraris and, most of all, black vans that didn't allow any light from outside into their interiors.<p>

Scowling in anger and pain, Feitan turned around to go back the way he had come from.

The scowl was quickly replaced by a sadistic smile.

Standing tall with his arms crossed over a wide chest, right in front of the corridor's door Feitan had crossed not five minutes ago, was none other than his next victim: General Hei Àn.

"**I finally found you**." The torturer spoke, raising his melted blade in front of him. **"And** **now I'll finally kill you."**

Automatically, Feitan searched for his Aura to fight. But he didn't find it. The Spider's eyes widened in confusion as he tried again and again to activate Ren, but never succeeded.

"**Wha-"**

"**You must be wondering why you cannot use Nen."** Hei Àn's calm voice came from a few feet ahead. **"It is this room - more specifically, the entire basement. In the walls, ceiling and floor, there is a circuitry that forces Nen users into a state of Zetsu. From the moment you stepped into my facilities, you became like me: forbidden of using Nen."**

As the General spoke, he proceeded to calmly remove the army's blazer he was wearing, revealing the large and powerful muscles that adorned his upper body. Feitan couldn't help but tense at seeing and hearing those words; without Nen and with his body so damaged from his fight with Huo Chieh, there was no doubt the General had an immense advantage over him.

"**Tell me, how does it feel losing your Nen? Do you feel the fear? The anger? The helplessness? It is a part of you that is being taking away, after all."** Hei Àn asked, cool eyes blazing with unusual fury. **"How do you feel, being as deformed as I am?"**

Feitan narrowed his eyes, but made no attempt to vocalize an answer. He had no time to fuel Hei Àn's madness and traumas, he had to figure out a way to recover his Nen, else he was sure to die by the General's hands.

"**Forget it.**" Hei Àn continued, much calmer now. **"There is no way for you to deactivate my Nen-blocker. You will have to deal with your handicap, as I have dealt with mine. And, of course, as Senritsu deals with her."**

The Spider's eyes started to burn with a murderous fury at hearing the name of the small woman, something that didn't go unnoticed by Hei Àn.

"**She is a most interesting woman, isn't she? So calm and peaceful, despite losing so much… Nothing like me. Maybe that is why she caught my attention so thoroughly. You see, I always strive to understand people around me. **_**Inside out."**_

The General took a step forward and, despite being in obvious disadvantage, so did Feitan, with only one thing going through his mind.

_What you did to her?!_

* * *

><p>It took Nocturnal some minutes to overcome the overbearingly cruel sounds assaulting his ears and stand up from the ground. One step into the basement had him submitted to a state of Zetsu, something that gave the Hunter pause. He was physically thin and weak and, despite knowing the basic of hand-to-hand combat, without his Enhancer Nen, he would be defenceless.<p>

_But, maybe not useless. _The Music Hunter thought, raising a hand to the side of his head, curving it behind his ear so he could amplify the sounds reaching him.

It took some more moments for the Music Hunter to be able to pinpoint a calm heartbeat amongst the many excruciating ones around him. It wasn't a familiar heartbeat, but it was his best choice, so he went after it. As he walked closer to that heartbeat, another, much, _much_ weaker, flowed into his ears and he heard his own heart skip a bit in dread as he picked up his pace.

_Senritsu._

Nocturnal stopped just outside a door. Inside the room, he now could hear more than the two people's heartbeats; he could hear their breathing and their movements. He could predict what they were doing inside the room and formulate a plan based on it.

He had the surprise element, and he would make it count.

* * *

><p>Dr Heier took his time suturing the strange woman's incision. In part because he was a perfectionist and, as such, did not lax in anything, but mostly because he was sad to end his time with this particular test subject. He had never seen such a singular <em>creature<em> before! Her organs were those of a normal human, only stuffed in a tiny body, pressuring the abdomen's skin to the point he could actually _see_ the colours of her viscera and blood through the skin. And her bones! The X-rays he took showed such high density bone matter... as if her once normal-length bones had shrunken and compacted themselves into the short calcium deposits that gave the small creature's body the support it needed. He wondered if he could breed her… No. Her skin was already stretched to the limits by her organs; the development of a foetus in her uterus would sure end up in an spontaneous abortion.

_Maybe if I transfer the foetus to another woman's uterus…_

After the doctor had the woman stitched up, bandaged and dressed, he stopped moving altogether, lost in his own mind as he planned the tests he would put his most recent test subject through. No doubt, Hei Àn wouldn't allow him to do anything live-endangering with her, but he could talk the boy into allowing whatever other tests that came to mind. That kid denied him nothing.

Dr Heier was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the autopsy room's door open behind him, nor the silent and careful steps a slender, mask wearing man took in his direction, nor the way said man's hand reached for the instruments' side table by him.

However, he did notice the scalpel being pressed to his throat.

"W-Who are you?"

Nocturnal didn't need to have an enhanced hearing to hear the absolute fear in the man's voice. The doctor was a complete sadist, but he had no courage to account for.

"What did you do to her?" The Music Hunter demanded, black eyes setting over Senritsu's unconscious form. "Answer me!"

"Nothing, I swear! She's alive and well!" Dr Heier answered quickly. "Look at the screen! Her vitals are perfectly stable!"

Nocturnal didn't need to look at any screen, he could hear in the doctor's heartbeat he was telling the truth.

"Who are you?" Nocturnal asked, much more calmly now.

"J-Joseph Heier." The shorter man spoke. "I'm General Hei Àn's personal doctor and technician."

The Music Hunter couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows behind his mask. "What does Hei Àn need a doctor for?" Did the General have some health problems that could be used against him?

Joseph hesitated in answering that question, but an increase of the scalpel's pressure on his neck quickly changed that.

"He wants to find a way to remove the limitation my brother put over him!" The man yelped, eyes now brimming with scared tears. "He wants to recover his Nen!"

Nocturnal's eyes widened. _Hei Àn cannot use Nen? Is that why-_

"Is that why this basement forces its occupants in a state of Zetsu?" Nocturnal inquired. "For Hei Àn to surround himself with people like him?"

"Yes…" The doctor whispered, closing his eyes. "Please don't kill me."

"I will not kill you. As long as you tell me how to turn off the Nen-blocker in this basement."

If Feitan had found Hei Àn… Nocturnal didn't even want to think about the outcome of that fight.

"T-there's no way to shut it down." Joseph spoke, voice trembling in fear. "It's a circuitry I created m-myself. I-It's on the floors, walls and c-ceilings; it doesn't have an ON-OFF s-switch."

Nocturnal pursued his lips as dread once again surged in his chest. But he still removed the scalpel from the doctor's throat.

Only to slam on the back of his head with the electric saw on the side table close to him.

"Let us leave, Senritsu." Nocturnal spoke softly, stepping over Joseph's unmoving body to lift the small woman in his arms. "This place is not safe for us."

The Music Hunter ignored all the agonized heartbeats and desperate cries coming from around him as he ran through the basement's corridors. He had to get Senritsu out of that mansion and into a hospital as fast as possible.

Those people were far beyond his help.

But he knew their voices and heartbeats would haunt him for the rest of his life.

* * *

><p>Nocturnal ran to his car - a black Jaguar that could easily reach 300kmh and take them to his home in less than 1 hour – laid Senritsu on the backseat and buckled the seatbelts around her body. Then, he quickly moved to the driver's seat and started the engine. The Music Hunter was about to step on the gas and speed away from that nightmare when one name popped in his mind and made him pause.

_Feitan._

Nocturnal's hands tightened and loosened around the driving wheel repeatedly before letting go completely.

_I cannot leave him to fight Hei Àn alone. Not without Nen. There must be a w-_

"_It's a circuitry I created m-myself."_

_Circuitry._

Quickly, the Hunter's thin hand reached inside his coat's pocket and grabbed his cell phone. It ringed once before he was answered.

"Anna!"

"_Sir, it's wonderful to hear your voice. What can I do for you?"_

"Tell Jean to drive to Hei Àn's state immediately. Tell him there is an unconscious woman lying in the backseat of my black Jaguar and that he is to take her to my home. Wake up Dr Duchamp and tell him to wait for my guest ready to provide her medical attention."

"_It's done, sir. What about you? Are you unhurt?"_

"…For now, yes."

"_Sir, what do you plan to do?"_

"I know I told you I would do my best to return home safe, but there is still one thing I must do before I can fulfil that promise."

"_Sir-"_

"Thank you, Anna."

Nocturnal slid his cell phone shut and threw it over the passenger's seat. He took one last glance at Senritsu's unconscious form on his backseat and left the car.

The Hunter ran back to Hei Àn's house with one objective in mind:

_The power box._

* * *

><p>"<strong>I remember you. Your eyes to be more specific; such vengeful eyes are impossible to forget."<strong> Hei Àn spoke calmly as he and Feitan circled each other. **"You are that boy from years ago. The one I casted away in Meteor City."**

"**Yes, and you are the one that murdered my sisters." **Feitan retorted; narrowed eyes full of anger.

"**I never murdered anyone. Huo Chieh killed the first one simply to fix your parents' mistake. The second one; I just granted her wish for death."**

"**You made her wish for death!" **The Spider accused in a hateful voice. **"You let those pigs rape Bei until she couldn't take anymore. It's the same as murder."**

"**Say what you will. She was still to weak-willed to deserve living."**

The words had barely left Hei Àn's lips before Feitan charged towards him in burning fury. Despite his wounds and the lack of Nen, he was still surprisingly fast.

Unfortunately, despite his large and heavy frame, so was Hei Àn.

The General side-stepped the thief's attack and counter-attacked him with a powerful kick to the gut, making blood spatter from his mouth on the ground. Then, he grabbed the torturer's head with both of his hands and raised his smaller body in the air until Feitan was high enough for him to head-butt him full-force on the forehead. The blow was more than enough to make Feitan's vision blur and his conscious to falter for a second.

_If I can use Nen, he'd see._

Hei Àn dropped the Spider's limp body on the floor and rose his right foot in the air, ready to kick the short man's skull in. But, before his polished boot could connect with Feitan's already bleeding head, the thief threw one last insult at him; one that made the General pause with pure rage.

"**You're a coward. You say those Nen-blockers make you and me the same but it isn't so. They are here to give you advantage over others. You haven't surpassed your handicap. If you had, you'd be fighting me on top conditions, not hiding behind this techno trash."**

Slowly, Hei Àn lowered his foot on the ground and Feitan couldn't help the relief that flew into him at seeing that. Said relieve died when he saw Hei Àn's eyes. They were bugged out in fury, disgust and a promise of hell.

"**Who are you to say that?"** The taller man spoke, voice eerily calm as he bent down to pull Feitan up by the hair. **"ANSWER ME!"**

But Feitan didn't get the chance to answer, for Hei Àn's large fist started to slam in his abdomen again and again, breaking ribs as if they were twigs.

Somewhere between the punches, Feitan's pain gave space to a moment of clarity, allowing the Spider to see an opening in his opponent's movements. With an speed the thief himself didn't think possible in his current state, Feitan raised his blade to Hei Àn's face, thrusting it in his right eye.

The General automatically let him fall to the ground as a howl of pain tore out his throat. Feitan stood up and took quick steps away from the large man, adrenalin overruling pain as he hid himself behind one of the many vehicles around them.

When the General finally regained control over himself, he was, strangely, much more collected then before. With deliberate calm, Hei Àn removed his white tank top and tied it around his head as some sort of eye-patch. It didn't matter that he had just lost his right eye. An eye meant nothing to a man who had lost his Nen.

_44 years… It has been 44 years since I last used Nen._

And he could remember as if it was yesterday.

* * *

><p>Both of Hei Àn's parents had been Hunters. Right up until the day they died, when Hei Àn was barely 10, both would take their boy with them in quests and adventures, showing him the wonders of that secret and magic world only Hunters could see. As a child, the fearsome General was nothing short of in love with the world around him and with the power of Nen. He knew he would grow to become a Hunter.<p>

Even his parents' murder, by the hands of a Jackpot Hunter, didn't detract from Hei Àn's desire to become one. On the contraire, it only increased it.

"_You want to become a Hunter like your parents, boy? Well, let me give you a head-start then."_

That Jackpot Hunter had forced Hei Àn's Aura nodes open, confident that the young boy wouldn't be able to control his Aura's flow and lose it all gradually, until there was nothing left to allow him to live. After forcing malicious Aura into the boy's body, the Hunter allowed himself to relax into a state of Zetsu, so he could watch calmly as the boy struggled and failed to keep his Aura inside his body.

Unfortunately for the Hunter, although Hei Àn's parents had denied to baptize him due to his young age, they had already explained to him the basics of Nen. So, as soon as the boy realized his Aura nodes were open, he searched all of his theoretical knowledge to push his Aura form his hands and towards the Jackpot Hunter.

It was with great satisfaction that Hei Àn watched the man's eyes widen in shock and pain before his eyelids slid shut for a last time. After that, the boy turned towards his parents and sat down on the ground. His gaze, once full of wonder, had turned ice cold; and like that it would remain for the rest of his life.

Without a sound, Hei Àn started to meditate. His parents told him that meditation was the best way to keep his Nen under control.

It wasn't long before the boy had figured out how to keep his Aura from leaving his body and, once it was done, he stood up, closed his parents eyes, kissed their cheeks in a silent goodbye and left the room, but not before giving their murder a last glance.

"_Thank you. For the head-start."_

The first thing Hei Àn did after that was participate in the Hunter Exam, which, thanks to his previous knowledge of Nen, he passed easily.

However, he failed the secret Hunter Exam. Not because he couldn't learn how to properly use his beloved Nen – Hei Àn was nothing short of a genius when it came to Nen – but because Ludwig Heier, the Hunter that was supposed to finish his basic education on Nen, didn't find him suitable to use it.

"_What you intend to do with Nen, Hei Àn?"_

"_Perpetuate it, of course. I will open people's eyes to Nen and its wonders."_

"_What if they don't want to learn Nen? What if they can't?"_

"_Then they do not deserve the life that their Auras allow them."_

That statement sealed Hei Àn's fate forever.

Ludwig saw the dangerous madness that inhabited the boy and understood the potential to bring destruction. The boy was _too good_ with Nen; he'd become one of the most powerful Hunters in history if given the chance to grow. But he was much too unstable to yield such power. He could not be given the chance to grow.

With many seconds thoughts and regrets for ending such a promising future, Ludwig used a technique he had developed long ago, for his own brother, and sealed Hei Àn's Nen away, inside a small, black dice Ludwig would carry with him until the day he died.

That day came much sooner than expected.

And it began a week after sealing Hei Àn's Nen away.

Hei Àn refused to accept the loss of his Nen. It was _his_ and no one was allowed to take it from him. Therefore, the boy used all of the other privileges that being a Hunter allowed him to search for a way to recover his Nen.

It took him a year before he had found something – _someone - _useful.

"_So you're the poor boy my older brother has judged unworthy of his own power. Ludwig can be so heartless… He was like that since we were kids, you know? He smiled when he took my Nen from me – when he maimed me – just because I used it to lure some people to come and… play with me. But he'll get his due. We'll make sure of it."_

Joseph Heier promised Hei Àn something he didn't know he craved until they had met: revenge.

"_See this skin patch here? I developed it myself. It's a Nen-blocker. All you have to do is touch Ludwig and the patch will stick to his skin immediately, forcing him in a state of Zetsu. Then he'll be just like you and me, and I'll be able to shoot him with my tranquilizer gun. He'll be at our mercy; he'll undo his seal."_

"_Why did you not do this before, on your own?"_

"_Well, obviously, my brother wouldn't trust me to get near him. Also, someone needs to wield the tranquilizer gun, right?"_

Hei Àn didn't notice the fear behind Joseph's words. The doctor was the only one in a year that offered him a way out of the pointless reality that was his life without Nen and that was more than enough to earn the young boy's respect and admiration. Most important, it earned his absolute cooperation.

Next time Ludwig saw Hei Àn, he felt a very familiar pang of guilt stab him in the chest; he didn't regret his decision, but he still hated what he had done to him. Maybe that was why, when he saw the child marching towards him with all the anger and misery of the world in his eyes, he didn't move. He just thought a silent apology and let Hei Àn punch him in the stomach.

The pain, Ludwig expected. What he didn't expect was the complete exhaustion of his Nen, nor the feel of a tranquilizer dart penetrating his neck. His vision blurred in a matter of seconds, but the older Hunter still managed to see his younger brother wielding a tranquilizer gun and smiling down at him in sadistic anticipation.

Ludwig had known that the victims of his Nen-sealing technique would come for revenge one day. He just didn't believe they would succeed.

But they did. And they dragged their victory for as long as possible.

Joseph kept his brother alive for 37 days, inflicting experiments and tortures on him as Hei Àn watched with sickened interest. When, finally, Ludwig wasn't able to take it anymore and died, both killers were sure everything would come back to normal for them.

But it didn't. Nen is a fickle mistress and Ludwig's, instead of dissipating after his death, only strengthened.

When Hei Àn understood that – understood that his Nen had been blocked forever – he didn't cry, he didn't scream and he didn't complain. He just crushed the black dice that kept his Nen and spoke to Joseph in a chilling voice.

"We will survive. We may have been maimed from our Nen, but we still must prove ourselves worth of it. We will live and become great. Then, we will show people who also lost part of themselves that overcoming it is possible. More than that, it is _necessary_. And, with your help, I will find a way to recover what was taken from me. You will make me whole again, doctor."

And so, Hei Àn started trailing the path that Ludwig tried to steer him from.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Not the time to think about that…" <strong>Hei Àn murmurer to himself, shaking his head softly. **"There is a rat I must kill."**

The General scanned the parking lot with his one eye, before stopping at one of his many black vans. There was a trail of blood leading there. Without a second thought, he took a step forward, towards Feitan.

"**It is a pity, but your survival ends now."**

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I really hope the chapter was worth the wait. =.= My plan was to finish Feitan and Hei Àn's fight in this, but it was getting too long, so I decided to split the chapter in two. Next we see how it'll all end. ;)<strong>

**Bei: ****sad; ****sadness; ****sorrow; ****sorrowful; ****feel compassion for**

**BK-201: I usually don't reply to reviews in ANs but you took your time to write a pretty long and detailed review (again, thank you very much :)) so I'll make an exception this time. XD**

**The truth about Huo Chieh's character is that I only created him so I could write a nice Nen fight in this fic. Since Hei Àn can't use Nen, I needed someone else for Feitan to fight and that's why I made him. However, I really dislike just throwing characters without explaining at least a little bit about where they came from so, despite literally using Huo Chieh just as a punching bag, I felt myself obliged to create and write a bit of his background here. So, you're absolutely right in feeling that Huo Chieh was used just for show. It's a waste because I really enjoyed working with this character, but I don't think it'd feel right to extend myself too much on him in this fic.**

**About Feitan's emotions, don't worry. I'll take plenty of time later to show just how much of a toll watching his sisters die took on his sanity. I just think that Feitan is more of a do-now-think-later kind of guy, so he wouldn't spend time thinking too deeply about his sisters' deaths when the culprits are right there in front of him, ready to be killed. But, then again, this is my interpretation on his character; only ****Yoshihiro Togashi knows how he'd behave in such a situation****.**

**Thank you - ALL of you - for reading up until now! As always, please tell me what you think about the chapter and until next time! :D**

**Kisses,**

**RedVoid**


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